A fresh love story for a familiar cheese.
Hochland Telemea leads its category and has sat in parents' fridges for years. The summer campaign had to win over younger people too, without losing the people who already bought it.
Although we lead the white cheese category, we needed to stretch the brand's territory and attract the younger generation.
The challenge.
Top of its category, and young people barely noticed it.
For years the brand had talked mostly to parents. The summer campaign for Telemea had to get younger people to notice it too. It had three goals:
Awareness.
Reach at scale.
Engagement that goes beyond a like.
The idea.
Telemea goes with almost any food. So we made other foods fall in love with it.
We knew the campaign would run while Insula Iubirii, Romania's Temptation Island and that summer's national obsession, was on air. So we wrote a love story in episodes for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. A tomato, a French fry, a salad, an avocado and a watermelon took turns trying to win Telemea over. Here's how it played out:
Each episode brought a new suitor.
People voted for their favourite pairing.
The story had its own summer song, which made it to Spotify without any push from us.
Four episodes, one summer.
Tap a clip to play with sound.
Tomato makes the first move.
4.4M views
French fry gets bold.
4.7M views
Salad brings flowers.
4.9M views
The whole love story, on loop.
5.2M viewsA cheese ad that ended up in pop culture.
The episodes were played 19.2 million times on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube in one summer. People came back for each new one.
Votes, comments, shares and a lot of people singing along.
80% likeability, with positive reactions on every channel. Some people replied in lyrics.
Why it worked.
We told a love story instead of selling a benefit.
Each episode left people waiting for the next.
We timed it to the show everyone was watching.
The campaign ran alongside Insula Iubirii, that summer's national obsession. The whole country was already arguing about who ends up with whom, so a cheese looking for its match walked straight into the conversation.
Songs outlast slogans.
People played it all summer, and the cheese went wherever the song did.
Young people joined in, and their parents stayed.
The story was new, the cheese wasn't. Long-time buyers still recognised their Telemea, so we won new fans without losing the old ones.
The audience wrote the reviews.
Tell me who Telemea ends up with, I'm dying to know!
TikTok userCongrats on a creative and funny ad!
Facebook userTelemea's song is as delicious as the cheese!
YouTube userOur digital-first campaign became memorable and lovable thanks to a catchy ad and real teamwork between the client and the agencies.
